Legendary Captain

The world is full of wonders!

Xu Xian was startled awake by the noise of He Changyuan entering the room. His reaction was too hasty, and coupled with the way Xu Xian slowly narrowed his big eyes, it actually had a bit of a frightening effect.

This misunderstanding only arises with someone as timid as He Changyuan. He Changyuan is already timid, and he's nearing retirement. If he were to lose his inspector status because of his insistence on holding Xu Xian accountable, he probably wouldn't even be able to reinstate his inspector qualification by the time he retires—a truly shameful retirement.

I initially thought he was just a pushover, but it turns out he's run into a tough opponent. I'll have to be careful then. Thinking about it, my reputation after retirement is more important!

Xu Xian stood up too quickly, causing him to feel dizzy and uncomfortable, which made his complexion look bad. He called out "Instructor" when he saw He Changyuan enter, and then fell silent.

The trainees were probably intimidated by Xu Xian's somewhat gloomy expression. Good grief, he's giving the inspector the cold shoulder; what a temper!

"Brother!" The student greeted Xu Xian cautiously, then found a seat next to him and sat down with extremely respectful posture. Little did he know that Xu Xian was just a student who was progressing slightly faster than him; anyone who didn't know better would have thought that he was sitting next to a captain or instructor!

Xu Xian didn't speak, only humming in response. He was still thinking that he should have known better than to read for so long last night, as he was now in a really bad state.

Seeing Xu Xian's sighing and complaining appearance, which completely disregarded him, He Changyuan felt no anger, but rather a little puzzled.

Could it be that Xu Xian has quite a background?

He Changyuan coughed lightly twice to suppress his unease and said to Xu Xian and the trainees who were cooperating with him, "Some time ago, the Bureau issued a document requiring us to focus on training our pilots' manual flight skills. So for this inspection, we will follow the Bureau's guidelines and will not use autopilot throughout the entire process unless it is really necessary."

This document from the regulatory authority, posted in the departmental file section, mainly states that, based on recent safety incidents, the authority has observed a visibly declining rate of manual piloting ability as the use of autopilot expands. Some recent incidents involved serious deviations in flight control by the crew. Therefore, a document on strengthening pilots' manual flight skills was distributed to all airlines. Its main requirement is for airlines to increase manual flight practice in simulator training. After all, for safety and security reasons, prolonged manual flight is rare in real flights; such training must be conducted in simulators.

Upon hearing this, Xu Xian didn't react much; after all, it didn't matter much whether it was manual or autopilot. However, the student cooperating with him didn't look too pleased.

If Xu Xian were to fly the plane manually, he would need to control the MCP board most of the time, but it would be a miracle if he could handle the MCP board.

He initially thought getting a free simulator session would be great, but it turned out he was likely to embarrass himself. He knew his own limitations perfectly well; he was still figuring out how to use autonomous driving systems. Even if he gave the wrong instructions, passing or failing wouldn't be his problem, but it would still be incredibly embarrassing!

Xu Xian's expression remained unchanged, highlighting the increasingly depressed state of mind of the student beside him. He Changyuan, seeing the stark difference in their expressions, initially thought they were putting on a theatrical performance! However, upon reflection, he immediately understood the underlying reason.

He genuinely intended to increase the difficulty by having Xu Xian fly manually, citing official documents as justification—a principle he couldn't refute. However, he never expected this would also increase the difficulty for the cooperating student. Judging from the student's expression, he seemed unsure of how to handle the PM role under manual flight conditions.

If the cooperating personnel are incompetent, wouldn't the lead pilot have to devote even more energy to covering for them? Doesn't that indirectly increase the chances of making mistakes?

Wonderful!

This is a pleasant surprise!

He Changyuan was surprised, but Xu Xian didn't think so. After figuring out the details of the person he was working with, he had already considered this when He Changyuan suggested manual flight as much as possible. His plan was to simply read out the instructions when the student provided them, and have the student follow along. Xu Xian figured the student should be able to recognize the buttons; being a tool would be fine, right...?

Xu Xian has already lowered the minimum requirements for the trainees' cooperation quite a bit. As for whether the trainees will further lower the minimum requirements, we'll have to wait and see.

Perhaps impressed by his own cleverness in killing two birds with one stone, He Changyuan's mood inexplicably improved, and he spoke with a more cheerful tone: "Let me lay out a few red lines. Crashing the plane? No pass! Making a mistake on the checklist? No pass! As for flight data deviations... we're flying manually, so just don't let the deviations get too out of line. For example, if I tell you to maintain 1200 meters, and you fly 3500 feet, that's a difference of 400 feet, that's definitely not acceptable, right? Also... you're trainees, so when you land, don't sound the 'Don't SINK' and 'PULL UP' warnings; land on the runway centerline. Considering your skill level, I'll have some tolerance for these flight data deviations, just don't make the same mistake again and again. Understand?"

Xu Xian nodded in agreement; this was a fairly standard inspection procedure. A crashed plane, or a mistake on the inspection form, is off-limits, regardless of the stage. Other aspects depend on the inspector's position. Instructor He, considering Xu Xian's status as a trainee, moderately relaxed the other standards, which was normal practice.

"Thankfully, he doesn't seem to be a particularly demanding inspector." Xu Xian breathed a small sigh of relief.

Since He Changyuan wanted to leave Xu Xian with absolutely no leverage, he couldn't do it openly. If he came on strong, as if saying "I'm going to kill you," it could backfire. Therefore, he had to lower Xu Xian's guard first, and then strike decisively.

He Changyuan was keen to portray himself as a kind-hearted inspector, and Xu Xian was delighted to have met a conscientious inspector. As a result, the atmosphere became strangely harmonious.

To Xu Xian's even greater surprise, He Changyuan did not conduct an oral examination, but instead asked Xu Xian about the initial modifications after discussing the details of the inspection.

Just like when people chat, they like to ask where you're from and which university you went to. It's normal for pilots to ask where their flight school is and who trained them during their initial conversion training.

"Instructor, my initial modification was done at Xiangyu Flying." Xu Xian answered readily.

"Over here?" He Changyuan became somewhat interested.

Xu Xian shook his head: "Not here, it's the Xiangyu headquarters!"